In the Middle of the Night
by Fox the Writer
Summary: We're all carried along by the river of dreams, in the middle of the night.


Ty had never been much of a spiritual or reflective man. But maybe that was why he was he was out here by the river: to gain some sort of high perspective on things.

He was out here by the river, lost in gaze as the gentle currents before him flowed smoothly and quietly. The warm night and chirping insects failed to bring forth any sort of comfort to him. A light breeze brushed through the trees, the river and Ty's own hair and ears, as if to attempt what the stars and crickets could not do for him.

As if coming out of a spellbound trance, Ty stood up from his seated spot on the riverbank, feeling the need to stretch and work out the kinks in his limbs and back. He had been sitting there for about an hour, just thinking over recent events. After he had enough of just sitting there and brooding, he decided he needed to do something with himself. But what was there to do? He didn't want to go back to Star Command just yet, but he didn't want to contemplate his thoughts anymore. And it _was_ a lovely night out here.

He sighed. He supposed he could take a small walk around the riverbank to get his mind off his troubles. Just as he started to move, he felt his foot hit something small and hard. In shock, he looked down to see it was was nothing more than a smooth and round stone. Feeling a sudden urge to vent his frustration, he wordlessly picked up the stone and threw it out into the water. But the pebble, contrary to Ty's own intent to drown it into the river, bounced and skipped across the surface.

He blinked as the stone skipped about seven times before finally diving into the abyss. That was not what he expected to happen, but he would take it. In fact, it felt actually kind of relieved, like he literally threw his troubles away, far away from him before they finally disappeared. He wished that the process would have truly taken away his pain, but...it was a start.

So he began to do it again. He picked up another stone or two, and he decided to cast the first one out along with all his negative emotions he had been feeling lately.

It had been six months since it happened. If he wanted to, he could have jumped into the water to wash away the past and cleanse himself of the horrible high-pitched screams, the turbulent and ugly neon green moon glows, and the terrible force of electricity pumping its power into his body. And to top it all, nearly being discharged out of his rank.

It had been six months after the whole Wirewolf incident.

It was hard to believe it happened. It had all the makings of a horror movie-all is well, then disaster strikes, but it's brushed aside even if the heroes are concerned, disaster strikes again and suddenly things get serious, the heroes try to stop it with blessings from authority, and sometimes they succeed and the movie reaches a happy ending. Other times...the cycle would begin anew or evil just won, period. Ty thanked his lucky stars that everything somehow managed to turn out okay, with his horror movie having a reasonably decent ending.

But did he have to be the one to pay some sort of price for it? It wasn't fair. Then again...when was life ever completely fair to him? Or to others for that matter? The pain was always going to be there, no matter what he would try to do. He wanted to get rid of it so badly, but it was easier said than done. Besides, others suffered as he did, so it wasn't like the universe was completely playing favorites with who had the most good luck or bad luck. Although there were times when Ty was confident as to who the universe favored the most and the least.

He did sit down and talk with Buzz to begin his journey of healing. It was a small step and he was glad he had taken it, but the process was taking longer than he was hoping for. Especially the dreams and flashbacks.

It was like his brain would not shut up about what he suffered through and would constantly remind him in the rudest way possible.

But what was worse? The dreams or the flashbacks? The flashbacks would come at the most inappropriate times and the dreams...the dreams are just as bad, charging down his subconscious like angry moozles. When they erupted from his head, they just served as reminders about how much longer he still needed to go before he could successfully and permanently recover from his trials.

Another stone was tossed, that one containing all his memories.

The horrible memories of everything before and after becoming that creature.

He could still remember the amount of missions he and Buzz went on, half of which ended up with him as the one in distress. He could still remember his individual assignments progressively losing their sense of action and adventure. He could remember some of the jokes made at his expense. He could remember losing friendships with Buzz and Warp, with the former getting so lost in his glory and personal vendetta against evil while the latter got lost in _loving_ evil and its profits.

Everything else after that was for jollies, thanks to the universe's morbid sense of humor.

But thankfully the universe gave him a long break. At least he and Buzz were on better, and closer, terms than before. He regained an old friend and they patched up their friendship. Even though the irritation and annoyance Buzz unintentionally invoked in Ty was not in malevolence and that Buzz himself was prone to acting socially awkward with his peers, it still irked the man from time to time whenever some naive cadet brought up his old reputation...and his new reputation. But luckily, thanks to his acts of heroism during that whole Curse of the Wirewolf event, his credibility shot up and more people started to recognize his talents and courage, with the stupid questions asked about his past slowly dwindling away.

And he also got the chance to make a new team for himself, with Pix, his new and trust dog, and his old and special lady friend, Simone. He never thought he'd see the latter again, and he never thought that he'd meet the former. These two loved serving under his new rank of Captain, and just being with him. Pix may be a silly and mischievous furball, but she was also the most loyal and bravest dog he ever met and had. Simone?... Simone, from the time he met her, was dear to him. She was soft-spoken, professional, and above all, kind.

He was lucky to be in a team with his two girls. He needed someone to help him with his load by taking it off his back and these two provided what he needed-Pix with her goofy antics and Simone with her gentle words. They weren't the only ones to relieve him of his load. Buzz was there and so was Rocket. And so was Nebula. And Savy. And his parents, even if he didn't get a chance to see them as often as he'd like. Even Team Lightyear and XL were willing to give some sort of aid if he needed it.

Even if the pain was never to escape his psyche, he did at least have some help whenever he was in need of it.

The last stone was cast out, his negativity extinguished. For now.

He sighed deeply, feeling good about cutting loose and taking it out on the stones. He really should start getting back...but there was one more thing he had to do first.

It was starting to heat up too fast for him. As pleasant as the night was, it suddenly spike in temperature, and he felt like melting away into a puddle. But he knew what he was going to do to remedy that.

He took off his Ranger coat, hung it on a large branch from a nearby tree, and plunged himself into the water.

He swam in the river's easy and slow-going currents, having no direction to swim in, but just swim for the sake of purging himself free. Even if it was just for one night. As though he were flying in the reaches of space, he floated in the water, letting the water carry him around as he closed his eyes to enjoy the river's stillness underneath the surface.

In the middle of the night.

* * *

 **A/N:** Another jukebox prompt, this time set to Billy Joel's " _River of Dreams_ ". The theme was having Ty thinking about the whole mess with the Wirewolf and everything else he's been dealing with and how he's approaching things. Enjoy and have happy days in your own rivers of dreams. :)


End file.
